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And that was it. Married.
With cheers all about them, his grandfather was the first to shuffle to Evan’s side, his hand slapping onto Evan’s shoulder. Evan glanced about the room. Gilroy had disappeared before the ceremony was over.
“Well done, dear lad.” His look shifted onto Juliet and he moved in front of her, bending to set a kiss on her cheek. “And you, lass. I didn’t think ye would go through with it.” He patted her cheek. “I can die a happy man, now.”
Her eyes narrowed at him. “You’re a wily one, you know that?”
“I do.” A wide smile cracked the earl’s face in two. “Like I said, these eyes may be old, but they don’t miss much.” He glanced up at Evan, his gnarled finger wagging between them. “Now I just have to stay alive until you and Ev realize ye belong together.”
With that, the rush of cousins descended on them with congratulations, drowning out the earl. Before Evan could blink, they were swept into a long day of revelry, Juliet pulled away from him by the small faction of wives.
Both of them thrust out to sea, still with nothing solid to grasp a hold of.
{ Chapter 21 }
“At least sneaking you to and fro between the bedrooms will no longer be necessary.” Evan set his boots next to hers by the door of his chamber.
Juliet chuckled as Evan went to the small table in the corner of the room, the sound uncharacteristically nervous from her lips. She was a master at lighthearted banter. But this…she had no idea what to do with this.
A marriage.
Even if it was to be short-lived.
He poured whisky into one glass and a reddish concoction she’d never seen before into the other glass on the table. Turning around to her, he lifted the red-filled glass to her.
“What is it?” She had more than enough glasses of wine today during the celebration that was still going on several levels below them. Any more and she would start doing and saying things she would surely regret.
The right side of his face lifted in a half smile. “I’ve seen how you cringe every time ye sip the whisky—so this has been cut by asweet blackberry syrup.Hopefully, it’ll be more to your palate.” He lifted the glass to her in salute. “You didn’t have to do what you did today, Juliet, but you did. And it meant the world to my grandfather. I’ve not seen such strength in him in ages.”
She took the glass from him and took a sip. Heaven. The whisky now a gentle waterfall down her throat instead of a trail of fire. She swirled her glass and took another sip just to make sure the whisky wasn’t just hiding at the bottom, ready to bite.
Her fingers went to her lips and she looked up at Evan. “This is good.”
He nodded. “I’m glad. I’m sorry it took me so long to figure it out.”
That he’d even noticed she gagged slightly at straight whisky or brandy was unsettling. Though it shouldn’t surprise her. Evan watched her, studied her, just the same as she did to him.
She cleared her throat, the question that had been on her mind for hours aching to be asked at the tip of her tongue. “You said there are ways out of this marriage?” She didn’t know the specific laws of Scottish weddings—something she maybe should have asked for more information about before uttering “I do.”
A flash of apprehension crossed his grey eyes, disappearing before she was sure she read it correctly.
An easy smile quickly lined his lips as he nodded and took a sip of his drink. “Aye, I did not lie to you. There areseveral grounds of divorce, adultery or desertion being the prominent choices. You’ll be able to file for either against me, and I will not fight you on it. We can explore annulment if one of us has lied about our persons. Any way we move forth, I’ll do everything to ensure you will walk away the most unscathed.”
Her lips pulled into a frown and she nodded. “I see.”
He stepped closer to her, his fingers lifting and trailing along one of the loose tendrils of hair that had fallen beside her face hours ago. “All that said, I don’t know what to do with ye, lass.”
The sparks of blue in his grey eyes were suddenly alive, dancing about with heat as he stared down at her. Sparks she recognized full well that sent carnal pangs to vibrate from her core.
Her tongue quickly losing moisture, she lifted her hand in-between them and took another sip of her drink. “You don’t know because why?”
His hand left her hair and moved to her cheek, his fingertips skimming along her skin, the softest petal of a touch. “Because you—you make me want things I should not.”
She swallowed hard, words she didn’t want to speak bubbling forth from her gut against all her intentions. For how much her mind railed against the words, her body and heart had very different opinions on the matter.
Her lips parted, her voice splintering. “As you do for me.”
Ever so slowly, his head bent to hers and he kissed her. Gentle, hesitating, curious, until he got whatever answer he wanted from the kiss.
